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Makerspace Workshop may improve well-being at Old Bridge senior community

You might think that a nursing home is the last place you will find an innovative workshop where people can create works of art, on their own schedule, using some pretty high-tech gadgets, but think again.

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Makerspace Workshop may improve well-being at Old Bridge senior community

Andrea Walls, Contributor
Published 9:00 a.m. ET July 26, 2018

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OLD BRIDGE — You might think that a nursing home is the last place you will find an innovative workshop where people can create works of art, on their own schedule, using some pretty high-tech gadgets.

But think again, because that’s exactly what’s going on at Reformed Church Home in Old Bridge this summer.

The brainchild of Kayla Carucci, a Middletown resident and PhD student at the University of Michigan, “Creations with Kayla” has found great traction among RCH residents as they explore traditional crafting using some pretty cutting-edge technologies — ones that might even surprise some millennials.

And the best part is, they are creating mainly on their own, with little instruction from Carucci herself.

The concept is known in popular culture as a “makerspace,” but Carucci has added her own spin by applying the fundamentals of the maker movement in the senior, long-term care setting. Her goal is to determine if the well-being of long-term care residents can be improved by offering self-directed sessions using low- and high-tech tools to create whatever the participant chooses.

Carucci has brought this novel program to Reformed Church Home thanks to a grant from the University of Michigan School of Information. She hopes to not only gather the data needed for her dissertation on the same topic, but also to see how best to implement makerspaces in real-world, senior-care communities.

“I hope to empower residents to make the decision to come at their convenience and create to their hearts desire. It’s a chance to do something different and challenging. There’s no reason seniors can’t take advantage of spaces that are in place in libraries, schools, and commercial settings,” Carucci said.

Indeed, the makerspace model has been around since the early 2000s, fueled mostly by an interest in computer science and robotics. It has evolved to become a hands on learning environment for children, DIY-ers, crafters and entrepreneurs. Equipment used in some makerspaces include 3D printers, iPads, digital embroidery equipment and even sewing machines, all of which are in place at Reformed Church Home for the residents to explore.

But some low=tech things are available as well, such as knitting needles, yarn, squishy circuits and button makers.

RCH resident and “Creations with Kayla” crafter Mary P. with her final product. She is wearing a jacket that she digitally embroidered.(Photo: Andrea Walls/Reformed Church Home)

According to Kate Shepard, executive director at Reformed Church Home, “We are thrilled to have been chosen as the pilot facility for Kayla’s research, which offers our residents a unique opportunity to try new and challenging creative pursuits. Through interviews with participants and personal observations, Kayla will collect the feedback needed to fine tune her ideas and adjust the program going forward.”

“I could do this all day, I really enjoy it,” says Mary Puskar, an assisted-living resident at the Home. “I’m learning so many things, like candle making and how to paint on an iPad using a stylus. We even digitally embroidered my name on a sweater so I wouldn’t misplace it again.”

Nursing home resident Sabina McCarthy agreed. “I have arthritis and can’t write or do much with my hands, but I can design something on the 3D printer and watch it print," she said. "I can finally do crafts again.”

With a bachelor's degree in photography and video, a master's degree in information, and a lifelong interest in crafting, Carucci is well-suited to lead the charge. Once her five year PhD program is completed, she hopes to teach at a research university to explore the interactions among people, information and technology in greater depth. In the meantime, residents are embracing these new technologies and their new-found talents thanks to Carucci's pop-up makerspace at RCH.

About Reformed Church Home
Reformed Church Home is not-for-profit healthcare community offering assisted living, rehabilitation, skilled nursing and respite care to seniors of all faiths and beliefs. The Home consistently has been awarded five-star Quality of Care ratings from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services each quarter since inception of the program in 2008; has been recognized as one of the best nursing homes in the country by U.S. News & World Report; received the Embracing Quality Award from Providigm (2013-2015); and was named Best of the Best Assisted Living Community in Middlesex County for the past five years. For additional information, contact 732-607-9230, or visit www.reformedchurchhome.com.